Turkey has the advantage of being the host team but it is still too early to make any predictions on its chances at the World Basketball Championships, which start Saturday.
What can always be taken for granted with the prospects of the “12 Giant Men” – as the national basketball team is known in Turkish – is that it will be completely unpredictable.
Going to the previous World Championships in Japan, Turkey had almost no hope. Coach Bogdan Tanjevic went to the Far East with a group of virtually nameless players, especially on international level, due to the absence of NBA stars Hidayet “Hedo” Türkoğlu and Mehmet Okur, but the team exceeded expectations and finished in a respectable sixth position, its best-ever placement at the worlds.
The following year, the expectations soared, with everyone assuming that a young generation that came to age in Japan would win the team a medal at the European Championships in Spain, especially after being boosted by the addition of Hedo and Okur. However, with only one win in eight games, Turkey finished 12th among 16 teams.
An extreme example in dizzying highs and disappointing lows came last year as well. Because of evidence that the team performed terribly when there were heightened expectations, little was expected when Turkey prepared for EuroBasket 2009.
The 12 Giant Men again confounded the public, however, beginning the tournament in breathtaking fashion as they won five consecutive games, including fantastic victories over powerhouse Serbia and eventual champion Spain.
However, it all went sour starting with a last-gasp defeat at the hands of Slovenia, which was followed by a dramatic quarterfinal loss to archrival Greece. After a great start, Turkey had to settle for a humble eighth spot.
Given those ups and downs, it is hard to predict Turkey’s prospects this time around.
The team has two of the tournament’s potential stars in Hedo and Ersan İlyasova while a potent and explosive group of big men, including Ömer Aşık, Kerem Gönlüm, Semih Erden and Oğuz Savaş, will also give the side strength.
However, there seems to be a problem with the guard position, especially after Engin Atsür’s injury. Veteran Kerem Tunçeri will try to hold the team together and run the plays but the team’s attacking prowess seems to rely exclusively on Hedo and İlyasova, which will limit the team’s chances if clutch scorers cannot be found on different days.
Greece and Russia, who Turkey always have problems coping with, will be the Giants’ main opponents. Rounding out the group are China, Puerto Rico and Ivory Coast, against whom the Turks should expect victories based on comfortable performances against lower-ranked teams in friendly tournaments.
Turkey, however, will take on Russia and Greece on match day two and three, respectively, meaning the team could fall back in the group early in the tournament if they fail to pick up wins.
But if the side manages to emerge from the first three games with at least two wins, the job will be almost half-done – given how good Turkey can be when it gets the right momentum.
